In the construction of buildings, both residential and commercial, it is very common to have runs of several long items throughout the structure. Examples of the items include cables, UTP phone line, coax cable, CAT5, CAT6, electrical wire or other electrically-conducting wire, pipes, tubing, conduit, and fiber optic cables. Whether various supported elements mayor may not be mixed in a common support structure is a matter for building codes; it is not a limitation of the instant invention.
Electrical wire is high voltage, and typically run from a junction box to various end points. In some areas low voltage communications wires and electrical power wires may be commonly supported provided they are separated. For example, the California Electrical Code 800.133(A)(1) allows the two to be mixed specifying they are “ . . . separated from all of the conductors of communications circuits by a permanent barrier or listed divider.”
Particularly in a commercial building, there may be a large number of wires in a common run. At certain points a subset of the wires may go in a different direction, thus the number of wires in a given segment can be very variable. Building codes generally require devices which restrain a bundle of communications wires to be no more than five feet apart. Requirements for spacing and clearance, such as space under a ceiling or raised floor, are generally given by the document ANSI/TIA/EIA 569-A. The document states that a suspension system may be located above or below a ceiling, within an access floor, in a plenum or non-plenum space. If a non-metallic product is located in a plenum area, it shall be plenum rated. According to Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (“UL”), the portion of the NEC® that defines the requirements of a cabling pathway is found in Section 300 of the NEC®.
There are many devices available in the prior art for suspending communications wires. Many are preconfigured for the number of wires they are designed to carry. A suspension device having a predetermined capacity is problematic in that a builder may need to carry an inventory of various sizes to be able to always have the right one on hand during a given project. Prior art solutions make it difficult to modify (add, remove, reroute) a supported wire bundle.
Just as there is an extreme variety of construction types, there is a variety of apparatus for attaching suspension devices to an overhead structure. What is lacking is a convenient way for a given suspension device to be connected which accommodates a variety of connection methods. A contractor may be involved in a plurality of construction jobs, and would prefer to have all required piece parts available in a single kit. This would lower inventory as well as training costs.
What is needed is an inexpensive device for holding bundled wires that is fast and easy to install, and which can accommodate a range in the number of wires carried, with flexibility as to how it can be attached to a structure with a minimum of different piece parts required for pre-installation inventory and which may be quickly configured at an installation point. It would be advantageous for the system to conveniently permit modifying or rerouting a portion of a supported wire bundle after initial installation.